D-League Basketball: Santa Cruz Warriors will look to kick off inaugural season in transition

SANTA CRUZ -- There's transition on the court. And then there's transition off of it.

The Santa Cruz Warriors are still technically without a home venue, and some of the players are still learning each other's tendencies, still adjusting to the coastal locale, and perhaps still discovering the movement to keep "Santa Cruz weird."

But for all the transitions going on outside of basketball, one of the main keys to the Warriors' success this season will be the transition they make on the court.

Offense to defense. Defense to offense. Much of the basketball in the NBA Developmental League is played in the open court, said Nate Bjorkgren, head coach of the SC Warriors, the D-League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors.

It's why "transition," even with so many off-court aspects in flux, is a welcomed term by the players on it.

"What's the No. 1 way to score in this league?" Bjorkgren asked his players on Nov. 9 during Day 1 of training camp. "By running and getting in transition. That's what we have to be No. 1 at, and we have to be No. 1 at stopping people at."

Santa Cruz's inaugural team will get a clearer understanding of where it stands in that respect following Friday night's 2012-13 season opener at Reno. The SC Warriors will play their first seven games on the road, including Sunday at Reno and Monday at Bakersfield, before returning home to Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz on Dec. 23.

Bjorkgren and his coaching staff have compiled an 11-man roster that will look to use its speed, aggressive play, pressure defense and smooth transitions in order to once again reach the postseason.

The sixth-year D-League coach spent four seasons as an assistant with the Iowa Energy before taking over the head coaching duties last year for the Dakota Wizards -- now the SC Warriors. The Wizards went 29-21 during the regular season a year ago and reached the playoffs.

Bjorkgren said during practice Wednesday that he likes "runners" -- from his wings to his bigs, with his guards pushing the tempo up the floor.

There's a reason for that.

"There's not a lot of size in the D-League," Bjorkgren said. "There's a lot of players that are very good open-court players that might be undersized for their position, which leads to a kind of wild, spread-out, little ragged game at times. Guys are really good at taking it to the rim in this league, and teams will play small.

"So we spend a lot of time on transition defense and working on transition offense, because we want to get to the rim, too."

Fast-paced, high-scoring action should be expected this season. Case in point: Santa Cruz won its two preseason games earlier this month, defeating Tulsa 95-79 and Texas 129-126 in triple overtime.

The Warriors have a handful of speedy guards at their disposal, including Stefhon Hannah, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound point out of Missouri who was named the D-League Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Hannah has played for Bjorkgren the past two seasons, and he's been playing that up-and-down style for some time now.

"So it's a part of me," Hannah said.

"It's a part of our game, and it's a part of the league," he added. "Sometimes you get easy buckets in transition, so we try to get as many easy buckets as we can. And if not, we won't force the issue."

Transition basketball will be a big part of the Warriors this season, but not all of it.

While Hannah will push the tempo alongside guards Justin Johnson, Travis Leslie, Cameron Jones, Carlon Brown and newcomer Maurice Baker, who was acquired on Wednesday, the Warriors will also be able to set up in the half court.

"We're gonna get up and down," Hannah said. "But in the half court, we've got some plays, we've got some good plays."

The Warriors have two forwards and two centers who aren't exactly short on size, either.

The Warriors traded for Chris Daniels, a 7-footer out of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, on draft day. On Wednesday, the Warriors acquired Mickell Gladness, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound center out of Alabama A&M. Gladness played 18 games with Golden State last season and another eight games with the Miami Heat.

Forwards Lance Goulbourne, at 6-foot-8, and Taylor Griffin, at 6-foot-7, fill out the active roster.

Daniel Nwaelele, who averaged nearly 10 points at Air Force and served in two overseas deployments, is on the Warriors' inactive list due to injury.

A second-round draft pick by the Phoenix Suns in 2009 and older brother to Clippers forward Blake Griffin, Taylor Griffin is one of five players who played for the Dakota Wizards a year ago.

"He's one of the dudes I was talking about," Hannah said of Griffin. "In the (NBA), he's probably like a 3. But here he's a 4."

And that's fine by Griffin, who Bjorkgren said exhibits a good mixture of both styles -- being able to play above the rim in transition while also showcasing his skill in the half court. In the Warriors' offense, Griffin said he feels a sense of freedom at the forward position, where he'll be able to shoot 3s, post up on the block and also drive to the basket.

"I'm embracing it. I'm excited. I like the freedom that the position brings. So, I'm looking forward to it," Griffin said.

Griffin feels more comfortable in the offense than he has in the past. That's because the forward has started the last three seasons in either the NBA or Belgium -- away from a D-League training camp.

Joining a D-League roster midseason is an especially tough transition, he said.

"But like I said, that's the beauty of being here from the beginning and going through training camp," Griffin said. "I feel like I'm an integral piece of the puzzle."

Many of the teams in the D-League employ a run-and-gun style of play, and the Warriors plan on being one of those teams -- when the opportunity arises.

It will all be on display Friday night in Reno and throughout the season in Santa Cruz.

Said Hannah of Friday night's opener at Reno, "We're expecting to go in there and play our brand of basketball, which is Santa Cruz ball now."

FOLLOW THE TEAM

TV: CBS Sports Network will broadcast the Warriors at home when they play the Maine Red Claws on Feb. 23 and the Idaho Stampede on March 25. The network will also televise the Warriors on the road when they play the Los Angeles D-Fenders on March 30.